Abstract
Mass movements processes (i.e., landslides and snow avalanches) play an important role in landscape evolution and largely affect high mountain environments worldwide and in Italy. The increase in temperatures, the irregularity of intense weather events, and several heavy snowfall events increased mass movements’ occurrence, especially in mountain regions with a high impact on settlements, infrastructures, and well-developed tourist facilities. In detail, the Prati di Tivo area, located on the northern slope of the Gran Sasso Massif (Central Italy), has been widely affected by mass movement phenomena. Following some recent damaging snow avalanches, a risk mitigation protocol has been activated to develop mitigation activities and land use policies. The main goal was to perform a multidisciplinary analysis of detailed climatic and geomorphological analysis, integrated with Geographic Information System (GIS) processing, to advance snow avalanche hazard assessment methodologies in mass movement-prone areas. Furthermore, this work could represent an operative tool for any geomorphological hazard studies in high mountainous environments, readily available to interested stakeholders. It could also provide a scientific basis for implementing sustainable territorial planning, emergency management, and loss-reduction measures.
Highlights
Mass movement phenomena play a significant role in the landscape evolution and occur in relation to physiographic, geomorphological, and climatic features and to triggering effects induced by human and/or seismic activity [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12]
Snow avalanches are critical events connected to the sudden instability of snow-covered slopes in geodynamical active mountain regions
Due to its geographical location and physiographic framework (Figure 1), the Abruzzo Region shows peculiar meteorological and snow characteristics that differ from the rest of the Alps and Central Apennines [46]
Summary
Mass movement phenomena (i.e., rockfalls, debris flows, shallow landslides, snow avalanches, etc.) play a significant role in the landscape evolution and occur in relation to physiographic, geomorphological, and climatic features and to triggering effects induced by human and/or seismic activity [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12]. Climate extremization and the potential for more severe weather conditions could be acknowledged as contributing factors These events can significantly impact mountain environments, residential areas in avalanche zones, ecosystems, and public infrastructures [13,14]. Snow avalanches are critical events connected to the sudden instability of snow-covered slopes in geodynamical active mountain regions They are undoubtedly one of the major denudational processes in cold and mountainous areas, representing a huge natural hazard with devastating socioeconomic and environmental impacts [16,17]
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